Susan Granger’s review of “Stardust” (Paramount Pictures)
Usually, this kind of sword ‘n’ sorcery fairy tale begins, “Once Upon a Time,” but this – being a PG-13 romantic fantasy – starts with a young man falling in love and its unexpected, unpredictable ramifications.
In the tiny British village of Wall, young Tristan (Charlie Cox) courts feckless Victoria (Sienna Miller), hoping to win her heart by retrieving a fallen star. His quest takes him into Stormhold, a fantastical parallel universe. It seems that when the star fell to Earth, it transformed into a radiant young woman, Yvaine (Claire Danes) – and Tristan is not the only one after her. There’s the evil witch, Lamia (Michelle Pfeiffer), who needs to devour the heart of the star for eternal youth and beauty, and Stormhold’s rival princes (Jason Flemyng, Rupert Everett, among others) who covet the gemstone in the necklace worn by the star to claim the throne.
As Tristan strives to protect the vulnerable star and bring her back as a birthday gift for Victoria, he encounters, among others, the fearsome airborne pirate, Captain Shakespeare (Robert DeNiro), and an unscrupulous mechant known as Ferdy the Fence (Ricky Gervais).
Written by novelist Jane Goldman with director Matthew Vaughn (“Layer Cake”), it’s a supernatural coming-of-age saga based on the visionary graphic novel by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess. In tone, it’s quite reminiscent of “The Princess Bride.” In addition to curses, enchantments, runes, talismans, ghosts, witches and Babylon candles, there’s a unicorn and the screen’s funniest buccaneer-in-drag. But the heavy-handed humor is sometimes problematic.
Filmed in rustic Iceland and Scotland’s Isle of Skye, it’s visually sumptuous, combining realism with fantasy. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Stardust” is an enchanting 8. It’s this summer’s playful ‘date movie,’ culminating in a glowing “happily ever after.”
